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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22439791">A Year Since</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traw/pseuds/Traw'>Traw</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Streets of San Francisco</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Friendship, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 11:21:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>588</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22439791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traw/pseuds/Traw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mike picked up the photo from the mantlepiece before he walked back to his favorite chair and slowly sat down. Staring at the smiling face in the photo, he felt his eyes begin to burn with unshed tears. It had been a year since …</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Year Since</h2></a>
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    <p>Mike picked up the photo from the mantlepiece before he walked back to his favorite chair and slowly sat down. Staring at the smiling face in the photo, he felt his eyes begin to burn with unshed tears. It had been a year since ….</p>
<p>He swallowed hard as the face in front of him blurred as the tears began to flow and the pain returned as fresh and as raw as it was that fateful day when Steve had been murdered, his body dumped in the bay like an unwanted piece of garbage.</p>
<p>Mike's finger unconsciously trailed over the glass that protected the photo as a kaleidoscope of memories flashed through his mind. He could still see nervousness in Steve's face that first day when they had become partners. Steve had been young, oh, so young, only twenty- six years of age, armed with a Police Science university degree and just two years under his belt of being a cop, he had a hell of a lot to learn but Mike knew he was up to the task. And boy, had Steve proved him right! Steve had been eager and quick to learn everything that he could teach him about being a good and honest cop.</p>
<p>Being Steve's partner, although their partnership had lasted just six short years, had been the best partnership that Mike had had in all his years of being a cop. He had proudly watched Steve mature and grow, not only as a great cop and a fantastic Homicide inspector, but also as a man and a friend.</p>
<p>They became much more than just partners, more than just a lieutenant and his inspector, even more than mentor and student, they had quickly become close friends, and within a few short months had come to regard each other as family. A single tear trickled, unnoticed, down Mike's cheek and splashed onto the glass as his chest tightened with grief, Steve had become the son he had never had, his Buddy boy and Jeannie's big brother…</p>
<p>He had laughed at Steve's dating escapades, taught Steve all he knew about being a cop, had tried to be there for Steve through the rough times and through the good times both on the job and off, just as Steve had always been there for him. He had cried the night the bullet had stuck Steve in the chest and came as close as close could be to killing him. He had been by Steve's side right through his recovery and when Steve had chosen to leave his side and pursue a career as a university teacher, he had been right there every step of the way and even though he dreaded losing the best partner he had ever had, he knew it was the best move for Steve. He had even been Steve's best man when Steve eventually married.</p>
<p>But the one night when Steve had really needed him, he had not been there. He had cancelled their weekly pizza and fight night catch up because of work, not knowing the next time he would see his friend, it would be in the morgue as he began to investigate Steve's murder.</p>
<p>A soft, strangled sob escaped as he lowered the photo back down onto his lap and the tears began to fall freely. It had been a year since that fateful day but his grief was still was as raw and as painful as it was that day a year ago when his Buddy boy had been murdered.</p>
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